Diver Abandoned off Newport

[Robert Phillips]

I guess the Coast Guard penalized the wrong person because they didn't know how California dive boat charters work.

No. As you know, all Maritime accidents are the responsibility of the Captain of the vessel.
What you don't realise is that they lessened his responsibility for the accident due to the circumstances involved. If Ray took all the blame, he would have had his liscense pulled permanently. As it was, it was only for 6 months. Of course, the training agency that certified the DM did nothing to the individuals who carried most of the blame.

 

[ChrisM]

Ditto what Robert said.

And your contribution to the discourse is stellar

 

[Uncle Pug]

Settle down Chris. Just asking questions here. I'm not familiar with the situation. And your last post was a non-contribution... ditto adds nothing.

I'm still trying to figure out why Bill is calling it a good boat with a good captain and you and Robert are calling him the *best* and *top-notch* if this happened on his watch.

 

[Uncle Pug]

OK... I see a couple of other threads I haven't been reading are about the same situation... if curiosity gets the best of me I might wade through them.

 

[Robert Phillips]

Settle down Chris. Just asking questions here. I'm not familiar with the situation. And your last post was a non-contribution... ditto adds nothing.

I'm still trying to figure out why Bill is calling it a good boat with a good captain and you and Robert are calling him the *best* and *top-notch* if this happened on his watch.

PM sent

 

[SteveDiver]

I wonder how much he will get????

He needs a TEXAS SIZE BOOT in his a**!

 

[caveseeker7]

I'm with Chris and Robert when it comes to Ray as the dive boat driver.
I've known him for years, long before he had his own boat, and truly believe nobody knows our local dive sites as well as Ray. I'd dive with him any day of the week, and I catch a ride on his boat any day of the week.

 

[socaldiver]

I have only gone off the Sundiver one tme (like Pacific Star and Aquatica better), but was very satisfied with the operation.

Like Chris, I find it appauling that people chide in their 2 cents worth not knowing anything about how things work in this area.

 

[WannaLaguna]

I have only gone off the Sundiver one tme (like Pacific Star and Aquatica better), but was very satisfied with the operation.

Like Chris, I find it appauling that people chide in their 2 cents worth not knowing anything about how things work in this area.

???

A dive boat is a dive boat no matter what the locale. There are measures put in place to assure that things like this do not happen. There are responsibilities and they start with the diver and work their way up to the boat.

If I was responsible for peoples lives (and I will be - studying for DM right now) I would make sure that boat did not move before all divers were accounted for. Simple checks could have prevented this. Where was the dive buddy? How could you possibly just not say anything and move off to the next dive site. There has to be more to this that we are reading...

 

[WannaLaguna]

one thing I would like to add. Once on the boat, it is the DM's job/responsibility to make sure that "ever diver is accounted for" no matter how negligent the individual divers are. He is the one that does roll call. The captain (although technically responsible by maritime law) is told by the DM that everyone is accounted for and "then" the boat moves to the new location or back to port. Should the captain be responsible for roll call too?...I bet if he was this wouldn't have happened. The captain and the DM work together. They are professionals and rely on each other to do their jobs. The captain probably accepted that a complete and accurate roll call was preformed. Do all captains now have to ask the DM for verification before pulling anchor? I think this is a lesson all of us future DM's can learn from. Check and check again.

They (instructors) pound these procedures into our heads in class. It should be second nature. It's truly unfortunate what happened. I'm sure the DM is having nightmares about this - all the woulda coulda shoulda's. I would think that the DM took all aboard as responsible divers and didn't think that a diver would just abandon his buddy. An avoidable mistake that may cost him his cert. Sad for the industry and divers in general. At least the diver survived.

Bottom line, that boat should not have moved.